Battle Systems
See also: Battle (Term) The Battle Systems are the core engine for battles between characters and enemies in the Final Cross series.They generally make up a large part of the game as well as allow the party to increase their strength, learn new abilities, gain new items and advance in the storyline. On a typical battle screen, there is a display of the party and the enemies they are fighting with a background to show the surrounding area, such as a forest. There is a list of the enemies, a list of the characters in the party, and the basic statistics used in combat for each unit. These stats can encompass HP, MP, and various other gauge levels. Types of Battle Systems Active Time Battle The Active Time Battle (ATB) system was designed by.It shares many attributes with the former system, but adds the dimension of timing-based strategy for commands. In it, an ATB gauge tracks when characters are going to act. When the gauge is full, they are able to perform an action,some actions then have an additional wait time, such as casting spells or using special abilities .After the action is executed, the ATB gauge is depleted and must recharge. The rate which the gauge recharges will typically correlate to the Speed stat of the character and the Battle Speed, which can be adjusted in the config. This means that combatants do not always get an equal number actions on a turn. ATB also introduced Attack Formations, a new element on how the battle itself is played out. A few additions, like Preemptive Strike and Back Attack, change how the battle begins, normally giving an initial edge to one side or the other by giving them an extra turn or changing the party order to disadvantage them. Others, like Side Attack and Pincer Attack change the entire combat, providing even more need for strategy. There are usually two settings to ATB, Active mode and Wait mode. In Active mode, time flows regardless of what is going on in game. In Wait mode, time stops when the player is navigating menus. Conditional Turn-Based Battle The Conditional Turn-Based Battle (CTB) system, or the Count Time Battle system, designed by.At its most basic, CTB is a turn-based system which does not operate in rounds, instead it uses an Act List, which can be affected through various means throughout the battle. That is, the order of the turns does not guarantee that each participant in a battle will have an equal number of turns. Characters with higher speed will be able to take more turns than slower characters, thus making speed much more important than in other turn-based battle systems. Uniquely, players can substitute out and in characters mid-battle, thus adding a new level of strategy. Furthermore, spells and abilities (such as Overdrives) can modify the Act List, as some abilities require a longer cool down time. In general, weaker abilities tend to require less cool down time, thus introducing a trade-off between speed and power. The system is distinguished from Active Time Battle system by the fact that when a character's turn begins, all action stops while the player decides upon an action. This shifts the focus from reflexes and quick decision-making to strategy and careful planning. Category:Miscellaneous